Are GMOs “non natural”, are we playing God by genetically modifying plants?
We tend to view all things that humankind influences as unnatural. By this definition, all farming is also unnatural, since it modifies existing habitats in order to grow food for our benefit. But, looked at another way, we are only doing what our species is capable of, in the same way as all animals. Unlike most of them, we do not have particular strengths which suit us well for a narrow ecological niche, but are the ultimate generalists and innovators. Humankind could have only evolved and thrived by managing and adapting nature. Since crops were first deliberately cultivated about 10,000 years ago, continued selection and cross-breeding has given us crop plants which are highly productive and suitable for us to harvest and eat, but which bear little relationship to their wild relatives and could not compete with them if not cultivated and managed to protect them from pests and weeds. Because this is a process which has gone on for many centuries, we regard the situation as natural.
